Colonial Day
Colonial Day is the 11th episode of the 2004 TV series, Battlestar Galactica. It aired during the show's first season. Plot Teaser The refugee ship, Cloud 9, has completed repairs and is set to host the inauguration of the newly-appointed of Quorum of Twelve, the upper house of the Colonial government where every colony has an equal vote no matter its size. A team of three journalists, James McNamus; Playa Palacios and Sekou Hamilton represent the "Colonial Gang", a new political commentary show. The three, considered by McNamus to be the only remaining legitimate journalists in the fleet, takes disparate opinions of the current evens. Palacios commends President Laura Roslin for reestablishing the democratic process, but McNamus derides the Quorum as a rubber-stamp conjured up by a "power-mad schoolteacher" to give the air of legitimacy; Hamilton meanwhile disapproves of McNamus' comments that the Quorum are all Roslin "cronies", as half the colonies are yet to receive a delegate. McNamus continues, insisting all were picked by the Presidential aide Wallace Gray and the entire process is nothing more than a publicity stunt. The three turn to discussing Gray, McNamus considers him the architect of Roslin's career, despite calling her power-mad, which Palacios objects to, while Hamilton insists Gray is a positive force as it is thanks to his experience the cargo distribution system has been established. President Roslin turns off her radio onboard Colonial One in disgust, as Gray enters the room. Billy Keikeya runs into the room to turn the wireless back on after receiving a tip - McNamus reports that the Sagittarons in the fleet have named Tom Zarek as their representative (which itself contradicts his earlier claim of all delegates being appointed through Roslin or indeed Gray). McNamus is entirely in favour of the appointment, insisting that the various allegations against him, from being a terrorist to his actions in the Astral Queen prison riot, were invented by the government to discredit him. Zarek gives a speech from Astral Queen, where he talks about a wind of change going against President Roslin and her "confederates". During this, a mysterious man readies a handgun and places it in his briefcase. Act 1 Dr. Gaius Baltar is interrupted in his lab by Lt. Kara Thrace, who is to be his security on a trip to Cloud 9. As he hasn't heard on the wireless, he is told he has been picked as Caprica's delegate for the Quorum of Twelve. Messenger Six tries to persaude him to like his job with the offer of beautiful women being drawn to men in power. On Cloud 9, Lt. Thrace observes the ship's garden with Cpt. Leland Adama to make security checks. Due to its large size and the size of the guest-list, a Cylon agent or terrorist could sneak in and assassinate her. When the guests begin arriving, Col. Saul Tigh and his wife, Ellen, begin greeting the new arrivals. As Tom Zarek will be amongst them, the press makes sure to keep their eyes on him, as anyone shaking his hand will indirectly be condoning or forgiving his terrorist past and those not shaking his hand will therefore be a snub to all Sagittarons. Apollo and Starbuck arrest a man named Valance who has smuggled a handgun aboard Cloud Nine, the ship where the Quorum meeting is being held. They interrogate him but get no information. Apollo suspects that Valance works for Zarek and that Zarek intends to assassinate Roslin if he wins the Vice Presidency. Roslin orders Apollo to spy on Zarek. Apollo taunts Zarek with the knowledge that Valance is in custody. Zarek meets with Ellen Tigh, flatters her, and tells her he is looking for Valance, whom he describes as a friend. Apollo and Starbuck find Valance dead in his holding cell shortly after, his wrists slashed open with broken glass - it is unclear if it was actually a suicide, or a murder cover-up. Roslin's initial choice for Vice President is Wallace Gray, an aide and friend who is a technocrat but who proves uncharismatic. Over the wireless radio, Roslin hears Baltar, also a Quorum delegate, mocking Zarek and charming the press. She has Gray step out of the race and drafts Baltar, who narrowly wins. During the Colonial Day celebration following the election, Head Six promises Baltar "great things". Apollo is surprised by how good Starbuck looks in her dress and dances with her. Zarek warns Roslin he will be back during the presidential election in six months and claims he did not kill Valance. Roslin and Commander William Adama compare politics and war and then dance. As Ellen and Saul Tigh dance, Ellen tells him she has secured a luxury suite aboard a civilian ship through means she refuses to reveal; she also nonchalantly asks him to agree to meet with some unspecified people she knows on that ship. She and Zarek share eye contact. On Caprica, Helo speculates (correctly) that the Number Six copies he has seen are Cylons. Caprica-Boomer suggests that the humanoid Cylons may have emotions, but Helo rejects this proposition. As the two prepare to hijack a Cylon ship to escape the planet, Helo sees another Number Eight copy. As Boomer shoots her duplicate, Helo realizes she is a Cylon. He flees as she calls to him. Production To prevent the show being too "claustrophobic" and to avoid a planet-of-the-week story from Star Trek, Cloud 9 was introduced to allow outdoor environments while staying with the fleet. Its internal nickname was the "West Wing episode", and was intended to explain the political dynamic within the fleet differently to what the original series did. The original Commander Adama was effectively in command of the fleet though repeatedly giving way to the civilian government, and ultimately have to save the day when their latest controversial idea backfires. Instead, Moore's series was to establish that the civilian government is in charge of the fleet and Galactica is a ship in the fleet, allowing longer stories to develop out of the difficulties of clinging to a republican representative democracy in a crisis. Cloud 9's garden was intended to be more like a cruise ship in earlier drafts. In the first scene with Cpt. Adama and Lt. Thrace on the ship, they would go skinny-dipping in a swimming pool. The heavy security on the ship was intended to convey the post-9/11 reliance on security measures in the US. The idea of the press focusing their attention on whether or not President Roslin would shake Zarek's hand, and how it could be seen politically was inspired by the Oslo I Accord, signed in September 1993. There was much debate as to if PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin would shake hands. The presence of the surviving press and their role in this story was inspired by the Miniseries, which established most of the passengers on Colonial One at the time of the Cylon attack were reporters and photographers; their presence here further solidifies the theme that life has returned to normal. Credits *Story By: :Teleplay By: Carla Robinson *Directed by: Jonas Pate Guest stars * Nicki Clyne as "Cally" * Cailin Stadnyk as "Ensign Davis" * Christina Schild as "Playa Palacios" * Biski Gugushe as "Sekou Hamilton" * James Ashcroft as "Spectator #1" * Patricia Idlette as "Sarah Porter" * Mario Battista as "Gardener" Further notes * Ronald D. Moore recorded a podcast, which can be found here. Sources External links * * Category:Season 1 episodes